PUBLISHED: 8 Mar 2024 at 04: 00
Residents of rural populations in Phetchabun’s Khao Kho area are petitioning two House committees to engage in an ongoing debate regarding the status of the place they occupy.
The plea was received monday by opposition head Chaithawat Tulathon, who is also a member of the House of Representatives ‘ boards on the defense, as well as natural sources and economic matters.
According to the complaint submitted by Buppha Chanpheng, who represents locals living in 35 communities within the Khao Kho jungle complex, many residents in the area have been accused by park authorities of encroaching on a secured reserve– some of whom have been formally charged.
Ms Buppha said last month, park authorities began asking the communities for “rent”, a shift local residents may not recognize as they believe they are legally entitled to live in the area.
According to Ms Buppha, most of the occupants– many of whom belong to ethnic minority groups– have been living inside the woodland advanced since the 1970s.
In 1977, during the fight between the Thai government and the Communist Party of Thailand, people in the area were asked to engage with the defense. In exchange, they were allowed to settle there and promised name deeds to the area they occupied.
But, in 1986, the region was declared a woodland reserve.
Ms Buppha said they have the right to stay within the jungle advanced, because just before the region was declared a natural supply, temporary certificates of employment were issued for 585 area plots.
” We have done nothing wrong. We have now written a statement to various government agencies, but they remain silent. So we have to beg MPs to take this matter to the House of Representatives on behalf of the people in distress”, she said.
The party asked the government to cut land invasion charges against the villagers.